For ABOUT $250, you can get a nice Ruger 22 pistol= Mark 1, II, or III. Start getting fancy with the barrel, price goes up. It will be difficult to find a GOOD 22 target revolver in that price range. The Browning Buckmark also gets high reviews.

If you wait a little longer, the Marlin bolt action rifles will soon be available with an adjustable trigger similar to the Savage Accu-Trigger if you're considering a bolt action.

Not sure which Marlin rifle/scope combo you're referring to, but some of their rifles have small, almost useless scopes. The 4x20 on the Model 60 is, in my opinion, a perfect example of a worthless scope and I doubt it will be on your rifle very long. A good 3-9x32 or 3-9x40 can be purchased for a decent price to add to a rifle and I think you'll be much happier with the variable power and 32 or 40mm objective.

For high capacity rifles in 22lr, the Ruger 10/22 is one of a few with available hi-cap mags, but the Savage and Marlin rifles are more accurate out of the box. Most 10/22's need some work to get to the level of accuracy the Marlin and Savage provide in stock form. The two 10/22's I had personal contact with had magazine reliability issues, which is one of the reasons I chose the Marlin 60 for my 22. My friend with the Mossberg had one of those 10/22's and said his Mossberg was more accurate and he didn't like the magazine trouble he was having with the Ruger so he sold it to his brother.

The Marlin 795 has a hi-Cap mag coming from Shooter's Ridge, but the mag hasn't hit the streets yet. The 795 can be purchased for around $100 and Marlin has a $25 rebate on them until the end of the year. the Marlin 795 is nearly the same rifle as the Model 60 but with a clip magazine instead of the tube on the 60.

I prefer the Marlin 60 with the 15 round tube magazine in a semi-auto, about $160 blued with wood stock and $250 for stainless with wood stock. Mine's been a great rifle since the day it was purchased. If you check out Bud's prices on rifles your local Wal-Mart will probably be pretty close to the same, I know mine is when it comes to buying a rifle they carry.

A friend of mine owned the Mossberg 702 Plinkster, it never gave him any problems, he just shot almost as much bulk Remington through it as I did my Model 60. Both rifles were dependable and were accurate from the start and both had the same $30 Tasco 3-9x40 scope from Wal-Mart mounted on them. Mine now has a BSA Sweet 22 3-9x40 AO scope. The scope included with the Mossberg #37035 seems to be the same or similar to the 4x20 on the Marlins and I doubt you'll keep it long.

At $250 for a target pistol the Smith & Wesson 22A can be purchased new with a 7" barrel and integral scope rail through Bud's Gun Shop. Their prices are about the same as one gun shop about 60 miles from my home, anything closer to me and handgun prices get rather stupid. The prices may be different in your area though.

The Taurus Tracker is a little higher in 22lr but does have a 6-1/2" barrel and I'm pretty sure scope rings and mounts are available for it.